Tape-measure attachment.



J. TITCHELL.

TAPE MEASURE ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12, 1910.

Patented May 2,1911

JOSEPH TITGI-IELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TAPE-MEASURE ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2, 1911.

Application filed September 12, 1919. Serial No. 581,561.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH TITOHELL, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tape-MeasureAttachments, of which the following is a specification.

The main objects of this invention are to provide an improved form oftape measure for use in fitting garments, and provided with an improvedform of handle piece adapted for use in making measurements from crotchor arm pits, and in making accurate circumferential measurements; and toprovide an improved construction whereby the handle piece may bedetached or slid along the tape so as to be out of the way in makingcertain measurements for which it is not needed, and whereb thestructure will be such that it will not e possible for a user to makethe mistake of sliding the handle piece toward the wrong end of the tapeand thereby making an inaccurate measurement.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view showing the tapemeasure in use for the purpose of making a breast measurement. Fig. 2 isan enlarged detail of the same in perspective, illustrating the mannerin which the tape may be threaded through an eye in the handle plate formaking a circumferential measurement. Fig. 3 is a section of theattachment on the line A-A of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectionsimilar to Fig. 2, but showing a modified form in which the plate isprovided with an anti-friction roller at the point where the tape isthreaded through it. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail, illustrating themanner in which the tape is connected to the plate.

In the form shown, the tape 1 is a flexible strip of cloth, such as isused by tailors and garment makers, and is correspondingly graduated onboth sides in such manner that each set of gracluations will have itszero point at the same end of the tape. The zero end of the tape isprovided with a metal reinforcement 2, on which is formed a stopshoulder 3. The opposite end of the tape may be finished in anydesirable way, but should preferably be without a stop shoulder. A platea is provided to serve as a handle when the user is making measurementsfrom the crotch, or under the arm pits, and is preferably formed withdissimilar ends, so that there will be no confusion as to which endshould be used as a gage in making a measurement. The measuring end 5 ispreferably of slightly concave curvature, and the opposite end 6 is ofreduced width and conveXly rounded. A series of tongues 7 are struck upfrom the material of the plate, so as to stand slightly outward from oneface thereof, and are disposed so as to extend across the middle line ofthe plate from opposite sides of the tape, and thus secure the tapealong the center line of the plate. The free ends of the tongues 7 arerounded and curled slightly outward so as to permit the tape to beeasily slid under them.

In applying the tape to the plate, it is first slid sidewise under oneof the tongues 7, and is then swung from side to side so as to besuccessively slid under the remaining tongues one at a time, as will beunderstood from Fig. 5. When the plate is now slid as far as it will gotoward the zero end of the tape, the stop shoulder 3 will engage thefirst of the tongues 7 and prevent the movement of the plate beyond aposition in which the zero end of the tape will register accurately withthe measuring end 5 of the plate. Thus, whenever there is a strain uponthe tape during the act of measuring, the user may feel safe inconsidering the end 5 of the plate as the zero end of the tape. Inaddition to having the tongues 7 struck up from it, the plate has an eyein the form of a transverse slot 8 cut into it between the first tongue7 and the end 5. In cutting the aperture 8, the material is out alongthree sides only and is curled back upon itself to form a smooth,rounded front edge 9 for the aperture. This rounded edge may, ifdesired, be formed of a separate piece of metal 10 wrapped around thenarrow part of the plate a between the slot 8 and the edge 5 to form ananti-friction roller. In making circumferential measurements, the end ofthe tape which is distant from its zero end is threaded through theaperture 8 in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1, thus forming a slipnoose and enabling the operator to draw the loop of the tape tightlyaround the part which is being measured, and make an accurate reading ofthe measurement in an easy manner.

The operation of the device shown will be readily understood from thedrawings and the foregoing description. It may be noted that the tongues7, while permitting the handle plate to be readily attached or detachedfrom the tape, will also serve to hold it securely upon the tape andpermit it to be slid back along the tape where it will be out of the waywhen it is not needed.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention is herein shownand described, it will be understood that numerous details of theconstruction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from thespirit of this invention, as defined by the following claims.

I claim 1. In a tape measure, the combination of a flexible tape, aplate of comparatively rigid material having struck up from the body ofthe plate a series of transversely extending tongues adapted to securethe tape along the plate and adapted to overlap the tape from oppositesides so that the tape may be slid sidewise into or out of engagementwith successive tongues, and a stop on the tape for limiting the slidingof the plate along the tape and insuring accurate registration of thezero end of the tape with the measuring end of the plate, said platehaving therein a transverse slot extending along and located between themeasuring end of said plate and said tongues.

2. A flexible tape measure and a comparatively rigid plate slidablymounted on said tape measure, a stop on said tape measure adapted toengage said plate when it is slid toward one end thereof and limit themovement of said plate to such position that one edge of the plateregisters with the zero end of the tape in making a measurement, saidplate having thereon means for slidably engaging the tape at a pointdistant from said zero end to form a loop for making circumferentialmeasurements.

The combination with a tape measure, of a plate having thereon means fordetachably engaging the tape, said means being adapted to permit theplate to be slid along the tape, a stop adjacent to the zero end of thetape and adapted when the tape is drawn back along the plate to limitits movement so as to bring its zero end into accurate registration withthe corresponding end of the plate, a transverse slit in said plateadjacent to said zero end of the tape and adapted to permit the oppositeend of the tape to be passed through it, the metal at the front of saidslit being struck up and curled forward toward said end of the plate toprovide a smooth edge around which the tape may be drawn in making acircumferential measurement.

Signed at Chicago this 10th day of Sep tember 1910.

JOSEPH TITGI-IELL.

WVitnesses EUGENE A. RUMMLER, EDWIN PHELPS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

